The Town Laughed at Her Empty Market Stall. One Lonely Cowboy Bought Everything
Chapter 2
Thomas Hale lived alone in a stone house beyond Blackwater Creek.
He owned cattle.
Horses.
A small orchard.
Several acres of pasture.
And a reputation for being difficult to know.
People said his wife had died.
Others said she had left.
Some claimed he had once killed a man in the mountains.
No one knew which story was true.
Thomas never corrected them.
That evening, he returned home before sunset.
His housekeeper, Mrs. Bell, was preparing supper.
“You bought something foolish again,” she said.
Thomas removed his coat.
“What?”
“Twenty pounds of flour.”
“I needed flour.”
“Thirty pounds of salt.”
“I needed salt.”
“Six dozen eggs.”
“I need eggs.”
Mrs. Bell stared at him.
“Anna Mercer has no eggs.”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“I know.”
Mrs. Bell understood.
“Ah.”
Thomas said nothing.
She smiled.
“You like her.”
“I bought a market stall.”
“You bought an empty market stall.”
Thomas walked toward the fireplace.
Mrs. Bell followed.
“That’s worse.”
He sighed.
“I saw her father’s name on the old debt ledger last week.”
Mrs. Bell’s smile disappeared.
“Mercer?”
“Yes.”
Anna’s father had owed money to Silas Crowe.
Crowe was Bellford’s wealthiest merchant.
He owned the grain warehouse.
The river mill.
Three taverns.
And several parcels of land.
He had been purchasing farms from families who could no longer pay their debts.
Thomas had avoided him for years.
But now Crowe had begun buying land surrounding Anna’s property.
There was something deliberate about it.
“What do you think he wants?” Mrs. Bell asked.
“Her farm.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Because the river runs through it.”
Mrs. Bell understood.
The farm sat beside a narrow crossing.
Anyone controlling that land could control the easiest route to the western settlements.
And Crowe wanted it.
